Investors reveal City comms shortfall

Their City Report 2004 showed a ‘yawning’ gap between investors and the country’s largest companies, half of which felt they maintained an effective dialogue with analysts. ‘There needs to be a different and better approach to communications with the City. This is a wake-up call for financial PR companies,’ said Blue Rubicon MD Fraser Hardie.

Among the respondents, nearly two-thirds of institutional investors and fund managers ranked comms skills as the most important characteristics of a CEO. Forty per cent said track record was most important, with just 29 per cent putting financial awareness top.

On 29 March, CEOs and the chairmen of the UK’s top companies attended talks with investors at the RAC Club. The summit was organised by the Confederation of British Industry in a bid to clear the air following several shareholder rebellions.